Top hotels fight the crunch

Nov 19, 08 | 1:54 am

By Nicola Cooke

Hotels around the country are trying to hang on to guests, as a fall-off in occupancy rates means that an average four out of every ten hotel rooms now lie empty. In some cases, luxury hotels that were charging over €300 per room per night are now offering rates of almost half that.

Others that have not cut rates are adding extras such as a complimentary bottle of wine with dinner or a spa treatment of choice. The perception of value for money is now seen as key by hotel management and their clients.

Matthew Ryan, president of Irish Hotels Federation (IHF), who is managing director of the four-star Grand Hotel in Malahide, Co Dublin, said that there ‘‘will be casualties in this current turmoil'' and that the federation was working hard ‘‘on behalf of the whole industry, [which is] facing major challenges''.

The national average occupancy in Irish hotels last month was 60 per cent - a drop of between 15 and 20 per cent on last year. Five-star establishments are ‘‘finding it more difficult than others'', because of customers' tendencies to downgrade to four-star or three-star in a recession, said Ryan.

‘‘A five-star hotel is a treat, and people are happy to settle for a four-star instead," he said. However, he said he did not see the two grades in competition, as there was still a major difference between them in standards, and the four-stars are also losing business to the three-stars.

‘‘I know, for example, there was a directive issued to staff and executives of the American pharmaceutical companies a while ago to ‘be seen to be using' four-stars instead of five-stars.

‘‘The latter are a very important component of the hotel sector because of the significant role they play in the success of the tourist industry here, and no-one can be complacent in the current situation where hotel business is down between anything from 15 to 40 per cent."

He said that those based outside the main cities are the worst hit.

‘‘I do see new trends developing in five-stars to cope with this slump, however, such as targeting families and providing more services and facilities for children," he said.

The IHF president said all hotels are now in ‘‘survival mode'' and that the federation will continue to campaign against ‘‘ridiculous and unnecessary'' hikes in the price of gas and electricity. He said some five-stars were reducing room rates ‘‘because they have no other choice'', but that others were maintaining rates and adding to packages ‘‘because they can''.


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Source: The Post.IE